Fragment Number One
by delta-velocity
Summary: Which one would you choose, dear Cleffy Clefairy: saving the world or saving the person you hold most dear? [Two-shot] [MoonflowerShipping]
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: A fragment of a story written on a whim after reading one of Pittacus Lore's _Lorien Legacies _books. Why it's called a "fragment" is because I only write about a particular scene inspired by the book - don't know why and how things came to be that way and don't know what's going to happen after._

_This is for Happy Yoshi, who knows my OCs probably even better than I do._

_Cover (c) I-am-the-wanderer on DeviantART._

* * *

**Chapter #1**

...

Cleffy was herded, blindfolded and gagged, into a dreary gray room of nothing but rock and steel shackles on the walls. She was roughly pushed to a wall and the heavy shackles were fastened around her arms. They were extremely short so they didn't allow her much movement. They didn't even allow her to walk at all.

The Sableye that had brought her in roughly ripped off the blindfold and gag, then left the room, leaving her alone.

Cleffy's eyes were still getting accustomed to the bleary dimness when she heard a feeble voice coming from a darker corner of the room.

"Clef..."

Cleffy almost jumped out of her skin. She wasn't alone here. There was someone else in the room with her... And she knew who it was. Of course she knew who it was - the voice was familiar. Not only familiar - it was even the voice Cleffy's always loved to hear.

"Ro... Roselio?!"

Cleffy's vision finally adapted to the darkness, and there, in the corner, stood her friend Roselio. He was in the same metal shackles and his rose arms were tied behind his back. He was bruised and battered. Unlike Cleffy who'd spent most of her time in her cell, he looked as if he'd been in a fight.

Still, he was smiling weakly at her, and Cleffy found that it was the same one as the smiles he'd smiled in the past when everything was all right. Despite their rather sticky situation, Cleffy found herself slightly relaxing.

"Wh-what d-did they do to you?" she murmured.

Roselio shook his head. "They wanted to know where your teammates are since they made off with the Time Gears..."

Cleffy nodded, dazed. All their enemies wanted to know that, of course. Her leaders in Team Overgrow, Breloom and Treecko, were trying to collect Time Gears to prevent the planet's paralysis, so about everyone who were in favor of a future of darkness wanted to know where they are and put a stop to their plans to save the Pokémon world.

"What Sableye told me wasn't reassuring," Roselio went on in a grim voice. "He said Dusknoir's already got your friend Lombre."

Cleffy's eyes flew wide open. "Wh-wh-what?! L-L-L-Lombre?! Is she...?!"

"Nope, Sableye told me she was still alive. Besides, Dusknoir's more likely to keep it that way if he thinks he can use her to lure Breloom and Treecko."

This time Cleffy didn't even know what to think. She knew perfectly what Roselio meant. Dusknoir could be keeping Lombre alive for ransom.

As in, _Give the Time Gears to me or you'll never see your friend again._

"And we're stuck here," Cleffy wailed in despair. "They've got Lombre, they've got us. If Breloom and Treecko still m-m-manage to stay hidden, th-they'd be wonders for s-sure. Wh-wh-what a b-big t-trouble we're in!"

Roselio was about to say something when they heard footsteps outside. Someone was coming towards their room.

The Thorn Pokémon said urgently instead, "Listen, Clef, they're bound to think you know where Breloom and Treecko are because you're in their team."

Cleffy whimpered. Being a member of Team Overgrow was starting to become quite a risky chore.

"...That means they'll ask you questions. They'll try to get their whereabouts out of you so they can get the Time Gears from Breloom's and Treecko's possession."

"I know, I know," Cleffy moaned, closing her eyes and willing this nightmare to go away.

"Listen to me, Clef." The Thorn Pokémon's voice cut into her thoughts, and the sheer urgency in it made her open her eyes again and stare right at him.

"I want you to not tell them anything, OK? You mustn't tell them anything incriminating at all. You must keep your teammates' and the Time Gears' whereabouts a secret."

Cleffy nodded at each sentence distractedly. She just wanted whatever nightmare she was in to be over.

Roselio, however, desperately searched Cleffy's eyes. When they finally locked eyes, Cleffy was surprised to find determination in Roselio's eyes, and... What was that? A hint of... _Sadness?_

"Um... A-and one m-more thing..."

Cleffy frowned. Roselio was stammering? This was unusual.

"I w-want you to do that whatever they do to us, OK? I want you to do that at any cost."

Cleffy only nodded again, dazed.

"P-promise me."

"I promise," Cleffy murmured, her mind still spinning. What "cost" could he be talking about?

She didn't have any time to think more about that, though, because the next moment, the door had been thrown open. A Bisharp went into the room. Despite the dreary lighting, light danced across the edge of his many razor-sharp blades. Cleffy's heart sank.

* * *

»̶✽«̶

Cleffy's heart sank even lower when Bisharp said, "Which one of you is Cleffy Clefairy?"

She was so afraid that she couldn't even get any words out of her throat.

Then Roselio swooped in.

If his voice earlier was gentle and reassuring, it was now dripping with sarcasm. Cleffy was surprised it could change so quickly.

"Oh, come _on_. Do we really have to answer stupidly obvious questions the likes of that?"

Cleffy's eyes went wide. She of course admired Roselio's defiance and courage, but she was worried what the consequences might be.

The Bisharp turned sharply to face the Thorn Pokémon. Bisharp was many times taller than he was, yet he simply stared up defiantly.

Bisharp looked down at him with something that resembled a forced smile. "I find your rebellious defiance amusing," he said, "and, as you will find out yourself, useless." He turned his back on him and faced Cleffy instead.

"So, you are Cleffy Clefairy."

Cleffy gave a start and tried to back up against the wall to get as far away from Bisharp as possible.

It was futile, of course. The Steel-type was even now starting to approach her.

"You are the fourth and final member of Team Overgrow."

_Oh no, oh no._

"I understand you and your team are against the idea of a future of darkness."

_Hey, let's not talk about dreary things like that, shall we? How about we talk about the new litter of Meowth kittens at Chansey's day care? Or the Perfect Apple sale going on at the Kecleon Brothers' store? Hey, isn't the weather unpredictable these days?_

"...And I understand that your team leaders, Breloom Kinogassa and Treecko Kimori, are in the process of collecting the Time Gears. They're going to restore them at the top of the Temporal Tower, if I am not mistaken. They are going to prevent the planet's paralysis. They are going to save the world. And we, I'm afraid, cannot allow that. We cannot allow the Time Gears to be taken to the top of Temporal Tower."

_Hahaha, wh-why d-don't we s-stop talking about m-my team? D-do you expect me to b-bore you with d-details like th-that?_

"Cleffy Clefairy, can you tell me where Kinogassa and Kimori are?"

Behind Bisharp, Roselio was giving her eye signals.

_Don't tell him, don't tell him._

"I... I d-don't know," Cleffy stammered.

"Are you lying to me, Cleffy Clefairy?"

"N-n-no!" Cleffy cried out. Too quick.

"Liar! Of course you know where they are, Cleffy Clefairy. You are after all their teammate."

"P-p-please believe me. I really d-d-don't know where they are," Cleffy begged. Tears were by now running down her cheeks.

Bisharp smiled a sadistic smile.

"Well, Cleffy Clefairy, in that case, maybe this should help jog your memory."

He suddenly raised an arm - which happened to be a razor-sharp blade like an axe - and placed it next to her throat. However, he had deliberately put it the wrong way so that the one touching Cleffy's skin was the blunt edge. Even so, there was no way Cleffy could have known.

Cleffy whimpered, "N-n-n-no!" But it was only such a feeble resistance.

Smiling wider, Bisharp suddenly raked the blunt edge against her throat. Cleffy closed her eyes, expecting blood to gush out of the wound, but it never came. She slowly opened her eyes again, by now sweating with fright.

Bisharp was making a huge show of holding up his hand/blade in front of Cleffy's face. "Oops, that wasn't the right edge." With another sadistic smile, he placed it by her throat again, this time the right way. "Now, let's try it this way, shall we?"

The poor girl closed her eyes again. "N-no," she whispered, almost faint from fright. The edge of Bisharp's blade was cold. "P-p-please..."

_I'm d-d-dead._

Bisharp held his hand some distance away, about to rake it against her throat again...

"HEY, ASSHOLE!"

Suddenly there was a rebellious, defiant shout...

Which had come from Roselio.

Cleffy's eyes flew open with surprise. Roselio had said a bad word.

The outcry caught Bisharp's attention also and he turned around angrily, saving Cleffy from more frightening confrontations with Bisharp's hand/blade.

"You are rebellious, defiant, and foul-mouthed," Bisharp snarled. "Be quiet. I am in the middle of some important business here."

Roselio stuck out his tongue. "Make me."

Bisharp's face went red. "I ought to have you gagged again."

As if on cue, a Sableye entered the room with a cloth. Bisharp nodded with satisfaction. "Yes, thank you, Sableye. That should keep him quiet." He turned back to Cleffy. "Now, where were we? Oh yeah, I _accidentally_ used the wrong side of the blade..."

He was interrupted by a scream.

When Bisharp whirled around again, Sableye was hopping about holding a bleeding arm and wailing and Roselio was wearing a smug look on his face.

"He BIT me! He actually bit me! I got bitten by a stupid PLANT!" Sableye cried.

Bisharp's face darkened considerably. "Idiot of a Sableye! I need to do everything myself around here!" he snarled crossly. He stomped over to where Roselio was standing and, to Cleffy's utter horror, simply slashed at the rose Pokémon with his hand/blade. There was an intimidating sound as the piece of steel whipped through the air. There was the red color of blood.

Cleffy was speechless and staring. Bisharp's blade had gotten him across his face, opening a ghastly wound and covering his cheek with blood. Had he thrust with more strength, he could have taken out an eye.

She saw difference when Bisharp was handling her and when he was handling Roselio. When Bisharp held his blade against Roselio, he had been really intent on killing him. But when Bisharp held his blade against her, it was as if he wasn't going to kill her. He was only tormenting and scaring her, trying to make her answer his question. He really was meaning to keep her alive.

Just like what Dusknoir was doing to Lombre.

Meanwhile, Roselio had quickly recovered and smiled weakly up at Bisharp.

"Is that the best you can do?" he taunted, tasting his own blood on his tongue.

Bisharp's whole face went an amusing shade of red, but he didn't have time for this. He snapped at Sableye, "You! Gag him before he gets feral again, you fool!"

Sableye quickly grabbed the fallen cloth and did what Bisharp had told him to do before Roselio could rebel again. Cleffy noticed that the white cloth instantly got tinged red as Sableye tied it over his mouth.

Cleffy felt like crying and running over to him and hugging him and cleaning and healing his wound (Cleffy was good at the last two - she's a pretty talented medic. And as for hugging him... Cleffy wished she could do that too, but Roselio was just so oblivious.)

She caught his eyes, and they were still giving her the same message.

_Don't tell him._

Cleffy wondered how much longer she could keep silent.

Bisharp went over to her again.

"Sorry for the many interruptions, Cleffy Clefairy," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "At least now he wouldn't be able to interrupt us anymore." He raised his hand again, his eyes glinting maliciously in the dimness. "Let's try this again, shall we?"

Cleffy wished she could fight back, but her hands were tied. At this rate, she wouldn't be able to use Mega Punch or Meteor Mash or even super-basic Swift, because all those attacks relied on her hands.

... Except if she could attack using her feet.

... Which she couldn't do. Unfortunately.

But Cleffy knew she had to at least try. She knew she didn't actually have any kicking moves, but she also knew she had to try if she didn't want to get roughed up.

While Bisharp was standing in front of her, she suddenly folded her feet close to her body (with difficulty - she had to admit sheepishly that she was quite plump) and kicked out with all her might.

Her feet caught a surprised Bisharp in the stomach. Although Cleffy was new to kicking moves, she was, for a girl, extremely bulky and powerful. With feet scraping clumsily against the stone floor, Bisharp was catapulted backward and onto his backside, finally landing with a catastrophic clang.

Cursing, Bisharp pulled himself up, complaining to the Sableye that was peeking into the room out of curiosity.

"Those Sableye fools!" Bisharp complained, brushing himself off. "And they said Clefairy couldn't kick!"

Cleffy was dazed. She didn't believe she'd really pulled it off.

Roselio, meanwhile, was laughing silently behind his gag in spite of his still-bleeding cheek.

Bisharp stood up and glared at Cleffy. "You're going to regret you ever messed around with me!" he snapped. Then he turned to Roselio bent at his feet, who was still laughing. "And you, you're going to sorely regret you ever laughed!"

His outcry was responded with more laughter, until his face went fire engine red and he shouted at the Sableye waiting outside, "Sableye! Take 'em back to their cells! I've had enough of immature young Pokémon. The only thing they do is cause trouble!"

And Cleffy found herself being unshackled. Weak and dazed, Cleffy slid down onto the floor and didn't even realize she was being herded back to her cell.

She was only focused on one thing:

She'd survived, and Roselio had too. She dreaded thinking about what Bisharp might do next.

»̶✽«̶ After two more days spent in her dreary cell, Cleffy was once again blindfolded and gagged and forced out of her cell. This time, both her hands and feet were tied so two Sableye simply dragged her on the ground.

When she had been tied to the shackles and the blindfold removed, Cleffy saw that she was in the exact same room she had been in when she confronted Bisharp. Even worse, she also saw Roselio exactly where she'd seen him.

The Sableye left, and Cleffy and Roselio were left alone in the gloom.

"R-Roselio... How's the c-c-cut?" Cleffy asked, worried. She still wished she could take a look at it. She was rather protective of the Thorn Pokémon.

Of course, happy-go-lucky Roselio shrugged with a small, weak smile. "It's OK, don't worry about it."

Cleffy nodded, but she was still frowning. "I h-h-hate Bisharp... H-how could he d-d-do such a thing?! I-it must have hurt quite a lot..."

Roselio smiled wanly. "Well, I have to admit it did, but at least it doesn't anymore," he reassured her. "Really, don't worry about me, Clef. What's more important is, how are you?" His face went grim. "Bisharp certainly didn't look happy when you kicked him."

"S-S-Sableye had to tie my feet so they simply d-d-dragged me here," Cleffy answered in a voice barely above a whisper. "Th-they haven't even untied my feet. I d-d-don't think th-they're going to. A-at all."

Roselio let out a frustrated huff and waved his arms a bit. His chains clanked and rattled. "If it wasn't for these shackles, I would totally have been able to cut the rope with my thorny vines."

Then his face suddenly went deathly serious. That was how Roselio was - flitting from one emotion to the next. "Clef... Remember what I told you the first day we came here?"

"H-huh?" Cleffy didn't.

"You promised not to tell them at all costs."

"O-oh, that. Y-yes, I did."

"Cleffy..." Roselio's voice was strangely softer. "Promise me that again."

"Y-yes, I promise." Cleffy was confused. "Why? Wh-what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing." The Thorn Pokémon laughed, but it came out nervous and weak. Cleffy, however, was too nervous to ask.

It was Roselio who broke the silence again.

"Cleffy... If I... You know..."

"H-huh? What? If you what?"

Roselio swallowed. "If I... D-don't come back... From this mission-"

"What?!" Cleffy interrupted. "Roselio, d-don't say that! We're both g-going to g-get out of here! I d-don't care how we're g-going to do that, b-but we will!"

"I know, I know!" Roselio protested. "I know, but... I've been thinking last night when I was alone in my cell, and I think I n-need to tell you before it's too late that..."

"That what?!"

"That... I... I think... I'm infatuated... with you."

"Infatuated?"

Suddenly Cleffy heard Lombre's teasing, sneering voice. "Breloom once got Attracted by a wild Jynx. Imagine that, a Jynx with her blonde hair and huge kissy-kissy lips! Caramba, Breloom totally fell head over heels in love with her. He couldn't even attack, he was that infatuated."

It hit Cleffy like a brick. There was the answer to the question she'd been asking since who-knows-when.

Yes, she'd been infatuated with Roselio since a long time ago. But did he like her back?

Here was her answer, finally.

Yes.

"I-I-I'm i-infatuated w-with you too!" Cleffy gasped out, her stammer getting worse and her face going beetroot red. "I-I-I've always been, f-f-for a long t-time!"

"Really?" Roselio raised his head. He was blushing.

"R-r-really." Cleffy was too shy to meet his eyes, so she looked down at her tied feet instead.

"U-uh, w-wow." Roselio turned away, still blushing madly. "If only we were in Treasure Town, we'd have been... Uh... Probably more than friends right now."

"Y-yeah, if only we weren't stuck here," Cleffy whispered. "We'd h-have been..."

_More than friends._

That was what Cleffy had always wanted - for someone to love her just the way she was. For someone to be more than a friend to her.

But here she was, feet tied up and hands in shackles, only being able to whisper "if only"s.

"I love you, Cleffy Clefairy," Roselio said quietly.

"Y-y-yeah. I l-l-love you too, Roselio," Cleffy whispered back.

That was when their little party was rudely interrupted by the arrival of Bisharp, who raised his hands. His blades seemed to have been thoroughly polished.

"Let's finish what we started, shall we?" he said loudly.

Cleffy groaned and tried to make herself invisible.

Bisharp laughed sardonically. "Don't worry, dear Cleffy Clefairy, I'm not about to use these on you. Oh, no. The time has passed for that."

Cleffy looked up at Bisharp. She didn't understand what he meant.

"We already tried that yesterday, remember," Bisharp went on. "Whenever I tried to kindly ask you about their whereabouts, your little friend here would always interrupt. So while keeping you in your own cells, I've been thinking of another way to do it."

Cleffy seriously didn't want to know how that other way worked. Unfortunately for her, Bisharp was all for telling her.

Instead of walking over to Cleffy, Bisharp went over to Roselio, all the while grinning and wiping his blades against each other, creating intimidating scraping noises.

"OK, Cleffy Clefairy," he said nonchalantly. "Now, tell me where Kinogassa, Kimori, and the Time Gears are." His blades glinted in the dim light.

"If not, your little friend gets it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter #2**

»̶✽«̶ Cleffy looked genuinely horrified, but if anything, Roselio burst out laughing.

"Oh, going to torture me to try and get to her, huh?" the Thorn Pokémon said despite Bisharp's blades just nearby.

Bisharp frowned at him, as if he couldn't understand why he wasn't scared. "Well, yes. Darkrai said that we needed the girl alive because she'd be useful to get information out of and could also act as bait, but we have no use whatsoever for you. So, yes."

Roselio laughed again. His eyes were glinting.

"Seriously? It took you _two whole days_ to think of that plan?"

This time Bisharp's face went red.

"See!" he exploded. "You always get onto everyone's nerves. The sooner you're gone, the better!"

He turned back to Cleffy. "All right, tell me where your friends and the Time Gears are! No lying - I'd know it if you were!"

Bisharp was holding his blade so close to Roselio for comfort that Cleffy was on the verge of telling him when she caught Roselio's eyes.

_Don't tell him,_ they said. _Don't tell him, whatever the cost._

That was when it struck Cleffy like a bolt of lightning.

_"I w-want you to do that whatever they do to us, OK? I want you to do that at any cost."_

Roselio had known it would eventually come to this. That was why he made Cleffy promise - twice - that she wouldn't tell Bisharp at all costs. He made her promise to stay silent even if it cost him his life.

Cleffy's heart felt like breaking. He was willing to sacrifice his life to save the world from a future of darkness.

Even worse, there seemed to be no way to get out of this sticky situation.

"Well?" Bisharp's voice cut into her thoughts. "Are you going to tell me or are you going to watch your little friend suffer?"

Cleffy very nearly opened her mouth, but she caught his eyes again and quickly closed it tighter than before.

_Roselio, I'm sorry._

However, if anything, there was an unusual light in the rose Pokémon's eyes - could it be pride?

Bisharp realized that Cleffy wasn't going to say anything, which meant he could do his job. Well, no matter. He loved his job anyway.

He pressed the tip of his blade against the poor Thorn Pokémon's upper arm. Then he glimpsed back at Cleffy to see if she might give some sort of response.

She didn't. Her eyes were staring into Roselio's, although her lower lip was trembling and tears were falling silently onto her pale cheeks.

Bisharp looked at Roselio's eyes, and to his surprise, he saw a light in them. Could it be pride?

All that aside, Cleffy Clefairy hadn't answered his question. That meant he could start doing the most fun part of this whole process. To him, at least.

He pressed the tip of the blade deeper until it punctured the skin. Then he drew it down along his arm to his elbow, opening an angry wound, red and bleeding.

This time, he saw excruciating pain written across the rose-shaped Pokémon's face. However, he also saw that he tried to conceal it, to suppress it, maybe because he didn't want Cleffy to see how painful it really was.

_Well, if he thinks he can hold it back, I'm just going to have to do it again._

Bisharp repeated the process, only this time, the cut was even deeper. There was more blood - in fact, so much that it ran down his arm and collected on his red rose. Roselio groaned in pain, but he couldn't do anything because of the shackles.

Cleffy was officially crying now - she was whimpering pathetically and hiccuping.

"Well? Do you maybe want to tell me now?" Bisharp asked, drawing back his blood-covered blade.

The girl swallowed, but shook her head, biting back tears.

Bisharp frowned. For a girl, she was quite stubborn and heartless. How unusual. But that only meant he had to do it yet again.

Another vicious and even deeper cut made more blood run down as if it was a red river that ended at a sea of red rose petals. Roselio let out another cry of pain. He knew it would only make Cleffy realize how much pain he was in and that would make her snap faster, but he couldn't help it.

He gritted his teeth and shook his head, trying to endure the vicious pain shooting up his arm like a one-way street. Cleffy hiccupped and bit her lip to keep her from saying anything, but eventually a tearful sob escaped out of her.

Bisharp drew up. "I think you're quite ready to tell me now, Cleffy Clefairy. "Roselio's blood dripped from the tip of his blades onto the floor.

"I... I..." Cleffy stammered. "B-B-Breloom and T-T-Treecko... th-they're ..."

"N-n-n-no..."

Bisharp had at first been pleased that Cleffy had been about to give him the information he needed, but of course even at this point Cleffy's little rosy friend had to interrupt and ruin everything.

He looked down at the bleeding Roselia by his feet, his face red with exasperation. "You be quiet! I'm in the middle of some important business here!"

However, Roselio just kept on talking.

"D-d-don't... do it... Clef..." he grunted. "I won't let you do it whatever th-th-that g-goon does to me. D-don't do it."

"B-but...!" Cleffy cried out tearfully. "I can't-"

The Roselia raised his head. "You promised."

That shut Cleffy up. She could only sob and bite her lip. She did promise, but now she was finding it extremely hard to keep it.

"Arrrghh!" Bisharp shouted. "I was right about you - you always ruin everything and get onto my nerves...!" In a sudden angry motion, he brought down his blade onto the Thorn Pokémon, creating a deep gash in his right shoulder.

"Gghh...!" Roselio grunted. The gash was big since Bisharp had done it spontaneously out of pure anger, and the pain was so intense that he almost passed out from it.

Cleffy screamed. "No! D-d-don't hurt him! I can't bear to s-see him like this; stop it already! I'll t-t-tell you where Breloom and Treecko are, just leave him alone! Breloom and Treecko... they're... they're in-"

"LA LA LA. I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING," Roselio said loudly to drown out Cleffy's voice.

Bisharp growled and turned to the Grass-type. His blades were already raised again. However, the Roselia's only response was to look up at it blankly while still talking at the top of his lungs.

"LA LA LA. YOU BETTER STOP THIS, CLEF. I CAN'T HEAR A THING YOU'RE SAYING... Gah!"

Bisharp's next slash got him on the same cheek he had cut two days ago. It painted his already red bowtie even redder, and it was excruciatingly painful for the previous cut hadn't healed yet. Everything was slowly fading to black.

He fell to his knees, staring at the spot on the ground where the little, falling droplets of red became messy red splatters. Even the red was starting to get darker and darker and his vision smaller and smaller.

Without warning, he collapsed onto the ground.

Cleffy couldn't take it anymore.

"R-Roselio, why won't you let me do this!" she screamed hysterically. "I'm sorry, I c-c-can't keep my promise! I can't bear to see you hurt like this! D-don't you understand? I'm sorry, I have to do it. P-p-please don't hate me for this... you're m-my most special f-friend..."

Though he was only half-conscious, he still whispered, "N-n-no..."

Cleffy faced Bisharp. "Breloom and Treecko are..."

"N-no!"

Cleffy kept her face straight, pretending not to hear Roselio at all. "Breloom and Treecko are..."

"Right here!"

There was suddenly a new voice. New... but familiar.

And the next second, Bisharp was hit by a jaw-crunching Sky Uppercut.

»̶✽«̶

* * *

Bisharp was sent flying and crashed into a wall. He finally landed on the ground with a catastrophic clang, and was left groaning and moaning and rubbing his head.

Cleffy stared openmouthed at the two figures standing at the doorway.

"B-Breloom and Treecko?" she whispered.

"That's us," Treecko said seriously. "We got here when we heard from the Treasure Town folks that you two were missing. This place is heavily guarded, but lucky for us we have the element of surprise. They were searching for us, but they never expected us to be right under their noses."

"Yep, but we can't chat right now, Treec," Breloom said lightly as he bounced over to where Bisharp was sitting. "We gotta deal with this asshole first." He grabbed Bisharp by the throat and hissed, "How did ya like tormenting Cleffy and hurting Roselio, huh? Ya know what I think, big guy? Ya ought to at least pick on someone your own size."

Next came a DynamicPunch and more clanking sounds.

Treecko turned back to Cleffy and then to where Roselio was lying unconscious. For a second, his expression was that of sympathy.

Before joining Breloom in the brawl, he went over to Cleffy and used Leaf Blade to cut her rope and shackles and then did the same to Roselio's. Then he dropped his Treasure Bag.

"Take care of him," he told Cleffy, referring to the Thorn Pokémon, jutting his chin at the bag. "His injuries look pretty bad."

Cleffy swallowed and nodded.

»̶✽«̶

* * *

As the clanking sounds intensified, Cleffy rummaged around in Treecko's bag. She pulled out some Oran Berries and some bandages. She cleansed the wounds with Oran Berry juice and bandaged them. There was a whole roll of them on his arm, the one Bisharp had cut open. Another piece wrapped his right shoulder, and a third one covered the wound on his cheek.

When Breloom and Treecko had finally overpowered Bisharp so that he was lying out cold, Cleffy had finished with her healing duties and was sitting next to him like a guardian angel.

Breloom and Treecko were about to walk over to her when Treecko noticed that she was holding Roselio's red rose in her hand, running her finger along his rose petals. Treecko motioned Breloom to stay.

And then Breloom and Treecko both witnessed Cleffy do something they'd never imagined her to do.

Not knowing that she was being watched, the Clefairy slowly bent down and gently kissed Roselio's unbandaged cheek.

"P-please wake up, Roselio," she whispered. "Everything's OK n-now, we're safe. P-p-please, you're my m-most special friend..."

...and then she looked up with a start and realized that Breloom and Treecko had been watching.

"Ah..." she gasped, letting go of his hand.

Breloom went over, and he was smiling a small smile. "Oh, he's still out cold, ain't he? In that case, we'd better carry him outta here." He didn't acknowledge the fact that Cleffy had done anything out of character.

Cleffy nodded quickly. Breloom didn't mention anything, and that was fine with her.

...

Roselio came to when Breloom and Treecko were carrying him out of Bisharp's fort and Cleffy was walking a bit behind them. Once he was fully conscious, he insisted that he was well enough to walk on his own.

"Well, OK," Breloom gave in, and then he and Treecko deliberately walked in front of them so that he would be alone with Cleffy.

For a few seconds, no one spoke.

And then Cleffy broke the silence.

"...I'm g-glad you're awake," she whispered. "I'm s-so glad..."

Roselio nodded, but his face showed that he wasn't even half as relieved as Cleffy.

"Did you tell him?" he suddenly blurted out.

"Wh-what? N-no," Cleffy said quickly. "I d-didn't tell him anything. Breloom and Treecko suddenly just showed up."

"Oh."

Cleffy wrung her hands, immediately feeling guilty. "Please believe me," she cried. "I really d-didn't tell him anything. And I'm s-sorry I almost b-broke my promise, b-but it was because I simply couldn't bear to see you hurt. I'm sorry, Roselio. I'm sorry for b-being really soft-hearted... I just couldn't do it..."

By now, tears were spilling onto her pale cheeks. She knew she was being an even bigger softie, but she couldn't help it.

"No."

Cleffy was surprised when she felt Roselio's soft petals against her fingers, and the next second his vine was wrapped around her hand. She found the sensation difficult to define - his petals felt delicate like something she had to take good care of, but at the same time they felt strong as if they were able to protect her.

It was a nice feeling.

"I'm the one who should be sorry, Clef," he said, his eyes looking deep into her own. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. I was worried; I didn't want Breloom's and Treecko's plan to fail just because of me."

Cleffy was unable to meet his eyes for long, and she shyly looked down at her feet. "N-no, it's all right. I knew you m-meant well," she said quietly. "Besides, we're s-safe now-"

She stopped speaking when Roselio's other vine moved to her chin and gently drew it up, forcing her to look at him.

"Cleffy..."

Cleffy was tongue-tied.

"Thank you. For being strong while we were in there," he went on.

Cleffy blushed. "M-me? S-strong? N-no, I wasn't strong at all..."

"Of course you were strong," Roselio insisted. "You could have broken down anytime, yet you didn't. I loved it when you stood up to Bisharp and gave him the good kick he deserved."

"Th-that was n-nothing," Cleffy whispered. "And you're w-way stronger than m-!"

Cleffy could have sworn that the next moment, she wasn't walking out of Darkrai's fortress, she was living in a dream instead. She didn't know how it happened, but she did know that suddenly she found his lips pressed against hers.

_What... in the world...?_

At first, her eyes opened wide with surprise, hardly daring to believe that this really was happening to her. But then she saw how close he was, how his eyes were closed, how his soft petals brushed her cheeks, how she could feel the bandage covering his own, and came to the mind-boggling realization that this really was happening.

_This is real,_ she thought in disbelief.

_This is very real._

Cleffy suddenly felt a foreign feeling.

It was real...

...so why not enjoy it?

After all, her feelings were reciprocal. He felt the same way about her. She would be a fool to withdraw at the last second after all they've been through, especially when he was making a move.

And so she did. She enjoyed it. Very much.

That fluttery feeling stayed even after it was over and they were hurrying after Breloom and Treecko.

Words couldn't describe how relieved and happy she was to get out of that harrowing situation. Now she could do more than whisper "if only"s. Now they could start being "more than friends".

That was when she remembered what Roselio had said on the first day they were captured by the Sableye — that her teammate and best friend Lombre was in Dusknoir's hands. The Time Gears also needed to be taken to the top of the Temporal Tower.

She was going to have much more important things to concentrate on — more important than she and Roselio being "more than friends".

She suddenly realized that the danger was not over. This wasn't the "And they lived happily ever after." Not yet.

But even so, with him at her side, she somehow felt a tiny bit better.

**End of Fragment No. 1.**


End file.
